Bethesda-based developer EYA LLC has indefinitely suspended the residential portion of a 60-home housing project in Rockville, about four months after the Montgomery County Board of Education voted to move Thomas S. Wootton High School out of the neighborhood.

Rockville Councilmember Adam Van Grack disclosed the suspension on Monday, Aug. 17, saying EYA told the city that buyer interest saw a "significant drop off" after the board's March 26 vote to relocate Wootton to the Crown High School campus in Gaithersburg, according to Bethesda Magazine. EYA disputed that framing the same day, saying the school decision did not factor into its plans.

The project, called Rockshire Village, sits directly across from the current Wootton campus on Wootton Parkway. It was approved by the Rockville Mayor and Council on May 21, 2024, to replace a long-vacant former shopping center with 31 single-family homes, 29 townhomes, 5,200 square feet of retail space including a Dunkin' location, a park and a pedestrian connection to the Rockshire Community Pool.

Van Grack, a Wootton parent, said he asked the city manager to check on the project after he and constituents noticed a sales trailer and "for sale" sign had been removed from the site. EYA informed the city on Aug. 15 that it was pausing the project, he said.

"The suspension of Rockshire Village should serve as a warning that decisions about community schools have real consequences," Van Grack said in a written statement. "Rockville and Gaithersburg are trying to create housing and attract families. School decisions should support that growth, not make it harder."

EYA says project will continue

EYA Vice President of Marketing Ananth Rao told The MoCo Show that the company is negotiating with a new homebuilder to complete the residential portion. He said EYA could not name the builder due to a confidentiality agreement but that the project's floorplans and designs would remain unchanged. EYA said it had already communicated with existing buyers and would connect them with the new builder once the transition is complete.

The company attributed the change to its core business focus on townhomes and multifamily development, citing similar handoffs at its Strathmore View, Tower Oaks and Grosvenor Heights communities.

In a follow-up statement Monday, Van Grack said his account and EYA's were "not mutually exclusive," maintaining that "the Wootton closure decision materially affected buyer interest in the development."

School decision reverberates

The dispute lands as MCPS faces declining enrollment districtwide and prepares for a new boundary study that could result in elementary and middle school closures by the 2029-2030 school year. The district projects a loss of 7,500 students between 2025 and 2031.

The board voted 7-1 on March 26 to approve "Modified Option H," which relocates Wootton's name, students and staff to the Crown building for the 2027-2028 school year. MCPS said it could not afford the roughly $300 million cost of rebuilding Wootton at its current site while also opening Crown as a separate school. The existing Wootton building will become a holding school for other campuses undergoing renovations.

A parent coalition, the Community and Education Policy Alliance, has appealed the decision. As of July 21, the case had been referred to an administrative law judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, according to Bethesda Magazine.

MCPS did not respond to a request for comment on Van Grack's statement.

Van Grack warned that if EYA cannot find a builder, Rockville could end up with "two vacant properties across the street from one another" — the former shopping center site and the soon-to-be-emptied Wootton building.